Potts Camp opens new track facility

POTTS CAMP – Tenesha Woods won the Class 2A state championship in the high jump, long jump and triple jump last season … quite a feat when you consider she had no place to properly train.
That’s all changed this year.
Potts Camp has become one of a handful of high schools in Northeast Mississippi to have its own track and field facility. The eight-lane track and field event complex opened for competition this spring at the Marshall County school.
“I had to practice at Byhalia (High School),” Woods said. “Most of the time I’d just run for my training. I didn’t get to practice my jumps.”
The track, which surrounds the Cardinals’ new football field, is part of an all-sports facility that is expected to be completed this fall with the addition of baseball and softball fields.
“It’s a really nice complex. It’s great having our own facility,” said Karen Green, an athletics administrator for Marshall County schools and former track and field coach for 19 years at Potts Camp.
Green’s cross country and track teams won 10 state championships during her tenure. Seven of those titles came in track and field.
“We used to run in the parking lot and around the softball field,” Green said, referring to her team’s practice sessions in past seasons. “We just conditioned and went to meets.”
Potts Camp hosted three division meets last weekend and plans to host two regional meets Saturday. The facility is also scheduled to host the Class 1A and 2A North Mississippi meets May 4.
Mike Bush, who assisted Green her final three seasons, is now the Cardinals’ track and field coach. Green still helps with the team when her job allows.
“I love it,” Bush said. “It’s awesome, especially when compared to what we had. Coach Green pushed for this all those years.”
Green says former school superintendent Don Randolph and his replacement, Jerry Moore, should be credited with getting the facility built.
“This is really nice,” Green said, standing in lane eight. “Words cannot express how grateful I am.”
gene.phelps@journalinc.com